PRINEVILLE, OR -- After four terms as Prineville's Mayor, Betty Roppe is retiring at the end of this year, and a familiar face hopes to take her place. Steve Uffelman was first appointed to City Council in 1985, and served four terms as mayor, himself. He's currently City Council President.

Uffelman believes he's the right person for the top job, partly due to the city's current rate of growth, "There are multiple benefits. There's just myriad activities that are going on in the community, [and] it's helpful to have the experience and have the background to keep all the balls in the air and keep things moving forward. That's why I'm doing what I'm doing. I'm retired, so, I have the freedom to do that." He tells KBND News, "If they look around at the changes that they've seen in the community, I've had my hand in a whole lot of them." He points to the golf course, his first project as Mayor back in 1988, through the City Hall upgrade, both waste water treatment projects, and the saving of the railroad, which just celebrated its hundredth birthday. "Just a variety of things in the community, my fingerprints are on it. If that's what they like, then they should vote for me."

He says he and Mayor Roppe are on the same page about where the city is headed, "We are not at odds of having different opinions on how things should move forward, and so it's more a matter of collaboration, and 'let's get things done,' rather than who's in charge." Uffelman is running unopposed.